Bush Pledges Help for Battered Liberia
MONROVIA, Liberia — President Bush offered encouragement and help yesterday to lift this shattered country from years of ruinous fighting as he concluded a tour of Africa and turned toward other global problems.
In Liberia, the final stop on Mr. Bush's five-country trip, almost nothing works and people are nervous about their future in the aftermath of a 14-year civil war that ended in 2003.
The country is overrun with weapons, malnutrition is pervasive, half of children are not in school, and many buildings are uninhabitable. There is little running water or electricity, and no sewage or land-line phone system.
"It's easier to tear a country down than it is to rebuild a country," Mr. Bush said. "And the people of this good country must understand the United States will stand with you as you rebuild your country."
Though Mr. Bush's entourage was a bit jittery about his seven-hour stopover, President Sirleaf of Liberia declared at one point, "You're safe."
Mr. Bush used his five-country trek to showcase how billions in aid and diplomatic engagement are improving the everyday lives of people across the continent.
Though each nation he visited already receives huge amounts of assistance, Mr. Bush had new aid contributions ready to announce at each stop:
• Ghana, $350 million to battle tropical diseases across the developing world.
• Rwanda, $100 million to train and equip African peacekeepers going to Sudan.
• Tanzania, a $700 million development compact and help providing an anti-malaria bed net for every child between 1 and 5 in that country.
• Benin, $6 million for textbooks, teacher training, and scholarships.
• Liberia, 1 million textbooks and 10,000 desks by the start of the next school year.
Liberia, founded by freed American slaves, offered an opportunity to trumpet a success in Mr. Bush's "freedom agenda," which faces an uncertain future in Iraq and many other nations.
"We're working to heal the wounds of war, and strengthen democracy, and build a new armed forces that will be a source of security for the Liberian people instead of a source of terror," the president said.
Liberia's civil strife brought unspeakable violence. Hundreds of thousands were massacred, boys were conscripted as soldiers to commit horrifying atrocities against countrymen, and the diamond trade was hijacked to finance fighting. At the center of the problem was one-time rebel warlord and dictator Charles Taylor. As the crisis escalated in 2003, America imposed sanctions. Liberia's deterioration dominated Mr. Bush's trip to Africa that year, and on his return to Washington, the president offered logistical support for peacekeepers — mostly offshore and arriving after Mr. Taylor fled into exile in Niger.
America has since helped a transition government hold elections, supported Ms. Sirleaf's new government, and funneled millions in aid.
